2 sons, 2 languages, 2 countries, 2 "worlds" (work/home), 2 PhDs.
Where translation and "in-between-ness" have become a way of life.
Now with 2 cats & 2 Universities!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Every 10 Years, Christmas Eve "Alone" -- 1994, 2004, 2014

* Alone here means without extended family ;-)
(I hope to edit this post later to include some photos. It was supposed to have been posted on Christmas Day)
I have no idea what Christmas 2024 will bring, my sons will be 20 & 22 and I most certainly want to spend Christmas with them, I wonder about the rest of the family, though. Will my parents still be around and healthy? Will we be with my in-laws?

K was joking that we need to be by ourselves to follow tradition and that it should be a good thing.

"We'll be in Fiji," he joked, "you and I, wouldn't that be nice?"

"Well, we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary, but no, I don't want to spend Christmas away from our sons!"

And then the boys began to talk about how old they will be that year, etc.

I don't like to think that far into the future, it's kind of scary! But looking back is fascinating and last night on Dec. 23rd K and I realized that ever since we became a couple, we've had Christmas "alone" precisely at 10 year intervals: in 1994 in a hotel room in our honeymoon; in 2004, our first Christmas as a family of four, by ourselves in a new city; and this year, alone again, just the four of us.

Needless to say, we're not used to that at all, but it felt very "right" and truly there was no place we'd rather be but home enjoying each other's company!

postcriptIt helps that we traveled on the 25th and saw very dear friends and family for six very intense day! More on that hopefully soon.

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About Me

I'm a Brazilian immigrant (used to say expatriate, have problems with this word now), living in the U.S. since 1996 with my husband and two sons (born in March 2002 and May 2004). I'm a mother, first and foremost, -- mamãe in my mother-tongue, hence the (e) of the blog title -- but after "ten years and two sons" I finally finished my Ph.D. in literature in 2008. After six years away from teaching (including a year home/cyber schooling my sons - 2009-10), I'm finally back in higher-education. I've been blogging here for eleven years, so welcome to my site and feel free to stay for a while and look around. Our lives are a roller coaster, never lacking in ups and downs! ;-)